We all have our odd ways of exploring new places. I like to traipse through alleyways and ride around on public buses. I’m not a big fan of obvious tourist attractions. One thing I do love, however, is soaking up some culture, especially on a drizzly day, at a fine museum.
Some of my best childhood memories are from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Since those first times soft-footing through its marble hallways, agog at the arcane antiquities, museums have always held a special and nostalgic place in my heart.
One of my favorite museums in the world, however far off the beaten track it is, is the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi.
One floor is dedicated to history and educates about various heroes from Vietnamese history. A large part of it is dedicated to the female soldiers who fought to defend the independence of Vietnam from the French, the Japanese, the French again and then the Americans. It is impressive indeed. There didn’t seem to be much issue with women going into combat during these wars, and their accomplishments were many and varied.
Many of these soldiers have their own little exhibit, and it is humbling to read about how many planes one woman personally downed and how many US soldiers another disarmed and delivered to the North Vietnamese. As a student of Vietnam’s history of repelling foreign powers from its soil, I was enthralled.
My favorite floor was the one which showcased the staggering amount of different methods of weaving and patterns of textile decoration among Vietnam’s 51+ ethnic minorities. It was stunning to see how wide the spectrum of motifs and styles were.
There were dozens of examples of what the traditional clothing would have been in a wedding among these ethnic minorities, what they would have exchanged as dowry and what their various wedding-related customs were. Even in a comparably small country such as Vietnam, there was a fascinating amount of diversity.
It was a day well spent indeed. The Vietnamese Women’s Museum is one of the most interesting, colorful and engaging museums I have been to, and it continues to feature different, temporary exhibitions as well, touching on many aspects of women’s lives not just in Vietnam but all over the world.